In The Company of Heroes

By James Kitfield
Center Street, 2021
Hardcover, 304 pages

In the Company of Heroes features in-depth narrative profiles of the twenty-five post-9/11 Medal of Honor awardees who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. It focuses on the stories of these extraordinary people, expressed in their own voices through one-on-one interviews, and, in the case of posthumous awards, through interviews with their brothers in arms and their families.

Stories include Marine Corps Corporal William “Kyle” Carpenter, who purposely lunged toward a Taliban hand grenade in order to shield his buddy from the blast; Navy SEAL team leader Britt Slabinski, who, after being ambushed and retreating in the Hindu Kush, returned against monumental odds in order to try to save one of his team who was inadvertently lost in the fight; and Ranger Staff Sergeant Leroy Petry, who lunged for a live grenade, threw it back at the enemy, and saved his two Ranger brothers.